Xperia Z5 Premium does not display 4K all the time

Since the release of the Xperia Z5 Premium there has been conversation about the 4K resolution not being rendered all the time. Now Sony has commented the debate.

At IFA 2015 Sony offered a very limited hands-on time with the Xperia Z5 Premium. Still some screenshots were taken and they revealed the fact that the UI is not rendered in 4K. This has launched a lot of discussion and now Sony has answered:

Xperia Z5 Premium features a 4K display with a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels based on SID Standard and enables all video and image content to be enjoyed in 4K resolution. All other content is displayed at 1080P or lower resolution in order to optimise the performance and battery stamina for this device, ensuring you can enjoy the 4K resolution when you need it most.

It looks like the 4K is only used in Sony’s own photo and video apps and rest of the content is in 1080p. This reduces the load on the CPU and GPU and saves battery. The UI doesn’t need to be rendered in 4K, neither the web browser as we have all the responsive sites that display content ridiculously big anyways. The resolution downgrade makes sense until the point that many people use other apps to view content that would benefit from the 4K resolution.

We understand the reason behind this, battery life. What we don’t understand is the lack of customization. Why can’t the user choose how to stress the SoC and waste the battery. Sony already offers the great power saving tools that are customizable, why can’t the resolution downgrade be optional? Google Photos and YouTube should also take an advantage of the high resolution display.

In the Xperia UI, the user can choose which apps can use internet connection when the screen is turned off. It would be perfect if Sony could implement the same kind of settings to choose which apps can render in native 4K.